“Give me a player that doesn't drink who's getting those statistics (that new striker Gabadinho Mhango boasts).”
This is how Richards Bay chairman Jomo Biyela replied when quizzed whether he'd seek counselling for Mhango about conducting himself correctly, given the 32-year-old striker's drinking history. Last September, a video of Mhango crashing his car into a taxi, while looking intoxicated in Bloemfontein, made rounds on social media.
“I am not in a position of judging people. I am not Jesus. My role is to support people, try and get the best out of people, so most of the time I look at the positive side of things and try as a father figure to deal with the negative side of things.
"I don't want to be negative and suppress all the good things he [Mhango] has done,'' Biyela said during an event to unveil the club's new signings in Richards Bay, KZN, on Tuesday.
“The fact of the matter is, statistics are there in terms of the goals that he's scoring. Give me a player that doesn't drink who's giving those statistics...they don't drink but they don't score and they drink but they score.”
The Natal Rich Boys owner insisted that the most important thing was for a player to deliver on the field of play, albeit admitting he'd speak with Mhango “for the sake of the badge” to make him understand that his off-field lifestyle must not affect his work.
“I am not in rehab...what do I want? Do I want them to score or do I want them to change their lifestyle? For the sake of the club's badge, I will sit with the player and make him understand that he's in the twilight of his career, so his off-field things mustn't affect his work,'' Biyela said.
I am not in rehab...what do I want? Do I want them to score or do I want them to change their lifestyle? For the sake of the club's badge
— Jomo Biyela
“I've got a lot of good players who drink and some of them you [the journalists] don't even know they drink but I know they drink but they play well and they're disciplined.”
Mhango's stats in the last five seasons
Last season: five goals in 25 games (Marumo)
2023/24: eight goals in 28 games (Swallows)
2022/23: six goals in 22 games (AmaZulu)
2021/22: didn't score even one goal from 10 games (Pirates)
2020/21: six goals in 32 games (Pirates)
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